Based on feedback from the community, VMware has posted content from approximately 20 additional VMworld 2007 breakout sessions and hands-on labs. You can also find a wealth of content from previous VMworld conferences, complete with downloads, presentations videos and other media. Visit the VMworld Web site to get started.
Saturday, December 22. 2007
Conference Sessions and Labs from VMworld 2007 and Previous Years Now Available
Friday, December 21. 2007
VMware ESX 3i released
Arne Fokkema over at ICT-Freak was the First one to discover a nice Christmas present. This release introduces VMware ESX Server 3i, the industry's first ultra-thin hypervisor. With this ultra-thin architecture, ESX Server 3i provides unprecedented levels of security, reliability, and manageability. ESX Server 3i provides all the benefits and features of VMware ESX Server hypervisor including: Increases security with a small, virtualization-centric package that minimizes attack surface area and requires minimal patching, Provides full integration with VirtualCenter 2.5, Integrates with hardware to ensure compatibility, certification, and optimized configurations, Enables standards-based management of the underlying hardware, Works in conjunction with VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) to achieve plug-and-play capacity scaling for your datacenter. ESX Server 3i Installable is supported only on Dell 2950 (full support) and on HP DL380 G5 (experimental support).
Thursday, December 20. 2007
App support could spoil the virtualization bash
Server virtualization feels unstoppable these days. The worldwide market for virtualization platform software grew 69% last year to US$1.1 billion, according to market research firm IDC, which predicts average annual growth of 27% through 2011, when global sales are expected to total $3.5 billion. But several factors could still stall the technology's growth, analysts say. For instance, software licensing terms often remain too restrictive or expensive for users that want to run their databases or applications on virtualized servers. In addition, finding IT workers who have virtualization experience can be a challenge for companies. Read the full storyΒ at Webwereld.
Wednesday, December 19. 2007
Virtual HBA Solutions for VI3
Cisco MDS and Emulex Virtual HBA Solutions for VMware Infrastructure 3. A Technology Overview for SAN Connectivity using NPIV in a VMware ESX Server 3.5 Environment. This co-authored technology overview provides data center users with valuable information for understanding the benefits of NPIV technology in a VMware environment and practical use cases and deployment scenarios for maximizing these benefits. This guide is intended to introduce the concepts of NPIV in a VMware environment, using Emulex and Cisco products. General use cases are presented and possible benefits are mentioned. Actual customer configurations can vary widely along with results, and these deployment scenarios may not be possible or practical in any given case. Please consult with your Cisco, Emulex and VMware representative on specific questions based on your specific needs.
Three backup questions
The virtualization experts at Veeam Software have written a mini-whitepaper outlining three key considerations in planning your VMware backup strategy. Traditional backup technologies are application-centric. But backup of your infrastructure using this approach can become very complex, with multiple backup agents to be managed and coordinated. For many, todayβs application image-level (or crash consistent) backup is a better, cheaper solution. In the physical world, image-level backup usually requires shutting down the application server. With virtualization (thanks to its snapshot technology) an image can be taken easily, without bringing a virtual machine down. Moreover, technologies like VMware Consolidated Backup (VCB) make it possible to offload the backup process to a dedicated proxy. This is all good, but some important considerations still remain.
Chargeback Expert Session
Alex Bakman is chairman and founder of VKernel, a software company with the first and only VMware certified virtual appliance for enterprise Chargeback and Cost Visibility. Alex is a recognized expert in computer security, virtualization, and systems management. He holds many US and international patents and is a frequent speaker at VMWorld, ISACA, TechEd, ITSMF and ITExpo. He is a published author in Virtual Strategy, ComputerWorld and InformationWeek magazines. A serial entrepreneur and visionary, he is the founder and current chairman of Ecora Software and founder of CleverSoft, a software company acquired by Candle Corporation. Learn how to achieve Cost Visibility and implement Chargeback in a virtualized datacenter. Understand why Cost Visibility and Chargeback are needed, what organizations need to Chargeback for and discuss when to begin the process. The advantages and disadvantages of various Chargeback models will be explored followed by a presentation of how to calculate Chargeback rates for CPU, memory, storage and network. The discussion will conclude by reviewing a suggested roadmap for Chargeback adoption and implementation to help you move forward with your current project.